Varrit
General Information Varrit (natively Bvareq Otan ˈɐʊʰtɐŋ; Alemarese Veariq) is a language isolate spoken on the semi-autonomous Varrit Islands of Alemar, off the coast of Barejinia on the Chevin Peninsula. Phonology Consonants */n/ is realized as ŋ word-finally. *The lax series consonants are voiced when between two voiced sounds. *The aspirated series consonants are preaspirated after vowels. *The /h/ phoneme can be pronounced x or h in free variation, tending towards x in educated speech. It is however exclusively pronounced x in the coda. *The postpalatal approximant /j̈/ is only found as part of the high opening /j̈ɐ/ diphthong. Vowels Varrit has three basic, somewhat centralized vowels, two long vowels which tend to diphthongize in uneducated speech, two low closing diphthongs, and a high opening diphthong. *The vowel system of Varrit used to be a simple ten vowel system: five short, five long, but it underwent something like the opposite of the Great Vowel Shift of English. Long vowels lowered (except for /aa/), short vowels raised (except for /i/ and /u/). Stress Stress is completely predictable. It is placed on the last long vowel, ignoring the last syllable of a word, which is never stressed. If their are no long vowels or the only one is in the last syllable, then the stress is on the antepenultimate. Writing System #<ð>, , , and <þ> are only used in borrowed words. # is pronounced /ʔ/ in borrowed words and is used in native words in the digraph , which used to be its own letter. # is pronounced /w/ between a consonant and a vowel. Digraphs: Examples: *dzirris /tsiris/ ˈtsɪɾɪs *jummuts /humotsʰ/ ˈxʊmoːʰts *tqinde /tʼintai/ ˈtʼɪndɐɪ *akqin /aakʼin/ ˈj̈ɐkʼɪŋ *huettsu /witsʰo/ ˈwɪʰtsoː Pronouns Verbs Classification Verbs are classified by number of syllables, number of stem-final consonants, and length of the last stem vowel for conjugation purposes. For example, zarri "to cut" is monosyllabic, ends in one consonant, and the last stem vowel is short. Nonfinite forms The Infinitive, is the dictionary form of a verb. Its ending is ''-Ci'' (C'' is a doubled final consonant) if the stem ends in a single consonant after a short vowel, ''-i ''if the stem ends in multiple consonants or a single consonant after a long vowel, ''-qi if the stem ends in a long vowel, or ''-qqi'' if the stem ends in a short vowel. Clusivity There are two first person plurals in Varrit, an exclusive and an inclusive. The exclusive is used when the listener is not included as the subject, and conversely, the inclusive is used when the listener is included as part of the subject. ex. Muv'at''' ke dzerebratqyon!'' "Me and you won the lottery!" vs Qoorsaq un dem muv'an''' ke yorg!'' "Sister and I won the game!" Zeroth Person The zeroth person is used when there is no subject, such as in impersonal verbs. ex. Pfeddeku "It's raining" Past tense The past tense is the most basic tense. Verb stems change in order to preserve their vowels length. # In the 2s, the ending voices for monosyllabic verbs. The 2s becomes the same as the 3s when the stem ends in a sibilant. Monosyllabic stem verbs vowels are lengthened in the 3s. # In the 3rd sg, the last vowel, if short and becomes the last phoneme in the word in the 3rd sg, will lengthen. A short vowel will also lengthen in the 3rd sg of monosyllabic verbs. # The in the 1st pls only appear if the verb stem ends in a consonant. # The in the 2nd pl only appears if the verb stem ends in a vowel. # The doubled consonant version of the 3p and zeroth person endings is used if the verb stem ends in a short vowel. Present tenses # The Continuous Present is used for describing a present situation as ongoing and either evolving (I am going) or unevolving (I know). # The Habitual Present is used to specify an action as occurring usually, ordinarily, or customarily. Modality Varrit has two Irrealis mood prefixes: de(e)-'' and ''kqi(i)-''. Negative Negation of verbs is expressed with a dedicated verb form using an infix ⟨jo⟩ which is placed directly after the stressed vowel and lengthens the stressed vowel if possible. All negative verbs are polysyllabic, short vowel verbs. ex. ''zarri "to cut, slash, slice" --> zajorri ˈzj̈ɐxʊɾeː Examples Polysyllabic short vowel stem verb: tqindeqqi "to eat" ˈtʼɪndɪʔeː, neg tqijondeqqi Monosyllabic long vowel stem verb: niqi "to start, begin, commence" ˈneːʔeː, neg nijoqqi Polysyllabic short one consonant stem verb: berzarri "to bifurcate, branch, fork" ˈpɪɾzɐɾeː, neg berzajorri Monosyllabic short one consonant stem verb: zarri "to cut, slash, slice" ˈzɐɾeː, neg zajorri Irregular verb: atsi "to go" ˈj̈ɐʰtseː, neg ajotsi Syntax Vocabulary Numbers Example text